Reviews by CynazarGoldens

Where do I begin about Vetericyn?
I recommend it to everyone, because it is quite literally unbeatable.
Vetericyn Spray is the only thing I trust on wounds. I've seen it make pretty gorey wounds vanish in days! Vetericyn does not sting, stick, or smell. It is completely clear and non-oily, as if you were spraying water onto the wound. It doesn't contain any antibiotics, yet it is strong enough to kill MRSA (the drug-resistant flesh-eating bacteria that lurks around hospitals). It also has Sodium Chlorite in it, which is known to cure all sorts of diseases when taken internally and applied externally. Because Sodium Chlorite is not yet "approved" by the FDA (because it is an amazing substance that actually WORKS), they do not market Vetericyn to be used on humans, only animals.

I trust vetericyn to clean and mend wounds of all shapes and sizes, from slices to puncture wounds. I use it on my dogs, my horses, my chickens, and even myself because it is amazingly safe. I remember the worst wound I treated with Vetericyn occured on a holiday weekend, right when my car was in the shop (of course). I called the vet and explained the situation, but since my car was being repaired I wasn't able to get there. It looked like someone took a scalpel and sliced her skin repeatedly all the way into the abdomen- it was BAD! To make matters worse, she was pregnant at the time, which meant I was limited in treatment methods. I thought that the giant gaping wound would never heal without medical attention, and was sure that it required stitches. Meanwhile, being stuck at the house, I cleaned the area, and soaked the wound with Vetericyn. I continued to do so 2 or 3 times a day. She didn't seem like she was in pain, which eased my mind. I've taken care of pretty sick animals before, so I knew that as long as she was stable and the wound was kept immaculate, we would be alright for a few days until my car was ready.
As I used the Vetericyn, I noticed that the skin literally began to pull itself together and mend itself, starting from the edges of the slice. By day 3 (Monday) it was totally mended, at which point I called the vet back and said nevermind- problem miraculously solved! After a week's time there was barely a scar to show.

Every time I use Vetericyn, all I get are great results. There are other things on the market, which may "help", but there's nothing like Vetericyn. My can of Blu-Kote is now mostly used for marking and identifying animals (lol) because I know that #1 it's very messy, #2 it takes FOREVER to dry, #3 its obvious especially when you're just trying to make a wound 'dissapear', and #4 it doesn't do as good a job at healing the wound as Vetericyn! I also have this other wound spray, but it is NOT safe around the eyes, probably not safe when ingested (so the animal has to be restrained or somehow prevented from accessing the wound), and it smells AWFUL! It's also goopy and sticky, so you always have to run and wash your hands after applying it.

So for me it's Vetericyn all the way. Except for skin irritations or infections, in which case I break out my MicroTek!

Jenne

I just received my first geese on Wednesday. They are giant compared to my baby chicks!
As soon as I opened the box, the gander jumped out into my dad's hands, peeping with his neck stuck out as if he was trying to tell us all something very important.

It was love at first sight. I feel like carrying all 3 of them around with me wherever I go. The first time I picked them up I was surprised at how incredibly plush and soft their bodies are. They have these big, soft, cold feet that are a charcoal grey color. When they get excited, their little wings open like they're ready to give you a hug. They stand straight up on those big feet and have dome foreheads like a human child has. Whenever I speak to them, they come to my voice and "talk" back to me! I love how I can pick them up as many times a day as I want, unlike fragile baby chicks.

The gander puts his head in the air and chatters his beak- I'm not sure why- but it is adorable. He is bigger and has a wider beak than the females. He also has an awesome and friendly personality. One of the girls is quiet and gentle, the other is active and outgoing. When I put my hands in their pen to pick them up, they don't run away from me.

Baby geese have the cutest faces of any baby bird that I've ever seen. They are very smart. I can't wait to see them grow up into gorgeous adult Brown Chinese Geese!

Jenne

A couple years ago I ordered 57 chickens. I purchased several chickens of different breeds, along with a "Rare Breed Special", which included all sorts of different, interesting breeds.
I knew that my mom loved the "Big Bird" look, with all those crazy head feathers, so I chose to include one Polish of each color; Buff Laced, White Crested Black, Golden, Silver, and White.

As they grew up, I noticed that they were on the low end of the bell curve when it came to intelligence. They seemed to lack common sense. I've read online that it's because they have all those feathers over their eyes and they can't see very well, but this is not true. They didn't grow feathers long enough to block their vision until they were older, and they were acting dumb from the very beginning. What I also find interesting is that I currently have a Mottled Houdan, which also has the head feathers blocking her vision, but she is one of the sharpest chickens in my flock.

As for those beautiful head feathers that the Polish are so well-known for? I never got to see them. From the moment they began growing crests, all five Polish chickens spent all day long pecking at eachothers' heads. They would stand in a huddle and dig their beaks into the flesh of the one standing next to them, then that one would do the same in return. They didn't show any signs of pain or discomfort. There were chunks of bloody flesh hanging off of them and bare, scabby parts of their scalp exposed. As soon as a wound would start to heal, the others would break it open again. I was MORTIFIED!!!!!!!!!

Going in there and breaking them up did little to help. A few minutes later they would all gather again and continue pecking eachother raw. Their heads seemed to be magnets to eachother- one couldn't walk past the other one without tasting his head. They quite literally looked like they were thinking, "HEY! Check that out! *BITE* ............ HEY! Check that out! *BITE* ......" The ones receiving the peck seemed like they were thinking, "Huh, I wonder what that must have been....... Hey, it happened again, what could that have been??"

Needless to say, they all had half of a bloody crest. The white one got so bad that we had to put him on the outside of the pen. After weeks of healing, he was finally back to looking good, so we put him back in the pen. Since he was never separated from the flock (only on the other side of the wire) we figured he would be fine. We were right- all of the chickens were fine with him- but as soon as we put him on the ground, the other four Polish ran over to him and began feasting on his newly-grown head feathers.

All of the other breeds of chickens left the Polish alone. There may have been a curious peck at a scab from one of the other hens, but they really didn't seem interested in joining the insanity. None of the sprays seemed to work- I tried Blu-Kote and it 'hid' the scabs for a few minutes, until one of the Polish noticed that it WAS in fact a scab and pecked at it. Then the others all ran over and started pecking at it as well.

We eventually had to slaughter several of them. My mom didn't want us to slaughter the Golden or Silver Polish since those were her favorites. It did seem to get better after we did that, since now it was one against one, instead of one against four. They also spread out a little more instead of standing in a huddle. We 'sort of' got to see their crests grow out, but there was always a bloody scab on their heads.

Anyway, that is my experience with Polish. I've read here on BYC about others with the same problem. I have some new Polish babies now, so we'll see if they behave the same way. If they do, I will have to put them into isolation pens. I'm only planning on keeping two Polish at a time from now on. lol

Jenne

We ordered our first incubator, the Hova Bator in mid-March, along with 50 day old chicks of assorted breeds. I spent a week or so caring for my chicks before I had to leave for a two week vacation. As everyone knows, 50 chicks are a lot to handle, especially when you're not really set up for it! I was hoping that my family would keep up with the cleaning while I was gone.

Well, little did I know, but my dad had ran out of room in the refrigerator for all the eggs that our older hens were laying. He also was curious to find out if the brand new incubator would work properly. When I got back, I noticed that the incubator was FULL OF EGGS, and it was ON.

A few days later, little beaks began to pop out. Fifteen chicks hatched, nine more were fully developed but died inside the shell, and the rest of the eggs had no chicks inside. I'm sure we made so many mistakes (I know I'm guilty of handling the eggs too much), but watching the miracle of hatching chicks was certainly a priceless experience.

Needless to say, with 50 chicks to take care of, we certainly didn't need 15 more! But, they are so darn cute that it's unbearable. They are impossibly cute, each with their own unique personality. For the first week or so I could have sworn they all thought that I was "mommy". When they were old enough to hop out of their box, they would walk over to the incubator, get on top of it, and stare down through the window at the other eggs.

Conclusion: a) The incubator works. b) We don't need any more chicks. c) The incubator will be very useful in the future.. but it's definitely getting put away for now! LOL

I was obsessed with this breed throughout my entire childhood. I loved their colors, their stance, and their efficient and lean appearance. I drew pictures of them everywhere, and they were my definition of what a "real" chicken should look like.

I joined BYC back in 2003 (give or take a year) and was very active in the chat rooms (I used to use the name Pocketpooch6, but I lost the password since it was so long ago). I learned as much as I could about chickens so one day I could own my own. I finally ordered my first batch of BBR Modern Games back in 2010, and boy has it been a great experience!

Now they are so beautiful to see in my flock, and always remind me of my childhood. My girls are two years old now and still laying up a storm. They are well mannered, gentle, and very hardy. They've weathered the freezing cold winters exceptionally well, even though they originate from the warmer climates. I actually lost one of my Rosecomb Leghorns to frostbite, and another supposed "cold weather breed" actually froze to the ground outside because he didn't want to go into the coop on that particular night. My Modern Game hens and roos did just fine in the cold, with their single combs and sleek feathers. They are very smart, but not the "you can't catch me" kind of smart, or the "escape artist" kind of smart (thank goodness). They just have that intelligence in their eye when you look at them.

My girls have the pink breasts and the tan wings/back, while my roos have the most beautiful golden necks with every color of the rainbow on their bodies. They are docile and trusting even though I don't handle them much.

This year we hatched four adorable Modern Game chicks in our new incubator (two of them were sired by a Rosecomb Brown Leghorn and the other two were sired by a Black Jersey Giant). The Rosecomb x Modern Game chicks are full of personality and very, very curious. They hop out of their box and run around the livingroom like they are the stars of an action and adventure movie. The Jersey x Modern Games are very quiet and sweet. They fall asleep in my hand when I pick them up. None of our other chicks are as fun or as colorful as our half Modern Game chicks! I'm looking forward to many more years with my girls, and next year I plan to hatch out full BBR Modern Game chicks to start my next generation of purebreds!

After painstakingly researching every breed of chicken out there, I came to the conclusion that the Wyandotte is the chicken breed that has it all.
Good egg layers? Excellent
Enough meat on their bones? Definitely
Gentle and friendly? Yes they are
Cold weather hardy? One of the best
Pleasing to the eye? Every bit of breathtakingly gorgeous

Of course, every one of these characteristics are more important than the next. Sometimes all I care about is the stunningly beautiful plumage, but to be able to have the best of both worlds as far as production (eggs & meat), plus the added bonus of being able to show my love and affection to these sweethearts? They are so tolerant that they will fall asleep on my knees while I watch TV.

It took me years before I finally purchased my own flock. This is because I was looking to get a specific mix all at the same time; Blue Laced Reds, Golden Laced, and Silver Laced. My patience has payed off, because now I'm watching my beautiful birds grow and develop.

I recommend this breed to everyone!